Netanyahu To Name Golan Town After US President

ICEJ News Briefs

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the Golan Heights on Tuesday with his family and used the occasion to post a video proclaiming his desire to build a new community on the strategic plateau to be named after US President Donald Trump, following his recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the territory. He explained that there “is a need to express our appreciation by calling a community or neighborhood on the Golan Heights after Donald Trump. I will bring that to the government [for approval] soon.”

Here is a video of Netanyahu's public statement

Elsewhere, US Senator Bernie Sanders declared his belief that the Netanyahu government was “racist”, leading to a sharp backlash in Israel and among US Jewish groups. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) posted a statement declaring that “The U.S.-Israel alliance serves America’s interests. We benefit from the close bonds between the governments and peoples. Name-calling by political leaders against the democratically elected government of Israel is counterproductive to maintaining close ties and advancing peace.”

In Israel, senior Likud MK Tzachi Hanegbi told Reshet 13 TV that "We condemn statements like that made by [US Senator Bernie] Sanders, which was really strange. The Israeli government is not a racist government, nor does it include a single racist minister. To be right wing is not illegitimate and it is odd that the Democratic Party allows one of its senior members to not respect the democratic choice of the State of Israel."

Iran Rattles Sabre Against US, Strengthens Ties with China

Iran’s Majles parliament passed legislation Tuesday that “authorizes the government to take firm and retaliatory measures against terrorist activities of American forces that endangers Iran's interests," according to state-run Iranian media outlets. The move came a day after Iranian Navy Commander Rear Admiral Hossein Khanzadi told his Chinese counterpart during a visit to Beijing that his forces would like to cooperate with China in the Indian Ocean as a substitute for US naval forces which he asserted would soon be retreating from the region.

BDS Movement Suffers More Defeats

The effort to Boycott, Divest and Sanction (BDS) Israel suffered several more defeats this week, with Grammy-nominated vocal artist Tyga holding a concert in Rishon Lezion Tuesday evening despite intense pressure on him to cancel and the Los Angeles Times naming an Israeli-owned restaurant as the best eatery in the mega-city for 2019. Bavel, opened last year by the husband-and-wife team Ori Menashe and Genevieve Gergis, was declared to be “a restaurant that wonderfully encapsulates the all-things-Middle-Eastern movement sweeping Los Angeles,” by Times food writer Jenn Harris.

Israel Blesses the World

US-based hi-tech giant Intel Corp announced on Tuesday that it was offering it “most powerful generation” of laptop processors ever, adding that they were designed in Israel at Intel’s Haifa-based development center. The 9th Gen Intel Core mobile H-series processors offer a 33% upgrade in video graphics and related services over computers built as little as 3 years ago.

“Our new 9th Gen platform is designed to delight gamers, creators and performance users by giving them more of what they want,” said Fredrik Hamberger, general manager of the Premium and Gaming Laptop Segments at Intel. “We are bringing desktop-caliber performance with up to 5 Ghz and 8 cores in a range of thinner systems and new level of connectivity with Wi-Fi 6 (Gig+) so users can game or create where they want.”

BeerSheeba Hospital Expanding Trauma Ward

Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba laid the cornerstone this week for a new trauma center and emergency department which will include 43 new beds by the time it is scheduled to be completed in 2021. Eric S. Goldstein, CEO, UJA-Federation of New York, which provided large donations to the project, said "the expanded emergency department will provide best-in-class care to all citizens of Israel’s south, and will help strengthen the infrastructure of Beersheba."